The Ministry of Municipality and Environment has stressed that its strategy attaches great importance to protecting endangered land and marine species by preserving the environmental heritage and protecting natural and marine resources, especially as a national wealth for present and future generations, in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.

In a statement to mark World Turtle Day, which falls on May 23 and aims to raise awareness of the importance of protecting endangered turtles, the ministry's Environmental Protection Reserves and Wildlife Department said it is continuing its efforts to monitor rare and endangered species and protect and preserve them, adding that a hawksbill sea turtle was inserted in Annex A of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to protect it from extinction. The hawksbill sea turtle was also included in the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, while studies have shown that they live in the Gulf waters, specifically on the northeastern shores of Qatar.

It noted that efforts to protect sea turtles began early with the support of Qatar Petroleum and the implementation of Qatar University and the active participation of the ministry's specialists by announcing a project to protect hawksbill sea turtles in 2003, pointing out that it had announced the start of the season of nesting sea turtles for 2018 during the period from April 1 to August 1 in the Qatari islands and the northern coasts of the country, especially in Fuwairit Beach, which has the largest number of rare and endangered sea turtles.

Last year during the season of nesting turtles, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment released 3,366 turtles. The success rate of the nest allocated was 96% and the hatching rate for this season was 82%. (QNA)